


Both dark and deep

by Vampiric_Charms



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Coping with war and loss, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Some angst, episode coda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:34:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,836
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28318290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vampiric_Charms/pseuds/Vampiric_Charms
Summary: When Ahsoka learns what transpired on the cruiser with Moff Gideon, she is furious - and not for the same reason Bo-Katan is.  Or at least, notquitefor the same reason.  Bo-Katan’s stubbornness over the matter only serves to make Ahsoka’s temper flare, even if her anger is borne more from concern than anything else.A small coda toThe Mandalorianfinale.
Relationships: Bo-Katan Kryze & Ahsoka Tano, Bo-Katan Kryze/Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 17
Kudos: 77





	Both dark and deep

**Author's Note:**

> **If you haven’t seen the season two finale, there are spoilers here.** The title is from [this gorgeous choral piece](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw5gupbe9E0&ab_channel=EricWhitacre-Topic) by Eric Whitacre.
> 
> Enjoy!

“He _shot_ you?”

“I’m fine, Ahsoka, it’s not - ”

“He shot you!”

Bo-Katan’s rebuttal was lost as Koska bustled into the little private room on Ahsoka’s ship, arms full of bacta packs and rolls of sterile gauze, as well as various analgesic pods they both knew Bo-Katan would flatly refuse to take. Ahsoka grabbed one of the bacta packs and snapped her fingers impatiently in Bo-Katan’s direction. 

She was beyond furious and nowhere close to letting this go. 

“Take your clothes off,” she ordered brusquely. 

Bo-Katan glared at her, frustrated and apparently taken aback at the order, but after a moment she complied without argument and began to peel off her armor. She turned her glare to Koska, instead, who was still nearby. “You didn’t have to bring me to her, you know. I’m _fine_.”

Koska just shrugged indifferently, not put off by her leader’s volatile attitude. She deposited the rest of the medical supplies on the bed where Bo-Katan was sitting, now only wearing her undergarments as Ahsoka had demanded. Her skin erupted with pinpricks from the chilly air, but Ahsoka didn’t pay any mind to that, distracted by the fact that her entire midsection was bruised rather badly. 

Ahsoka frowned and stepped into Bo-Katan’s space. 

“You might have survived, but you’re not fine. I think you have some internal bleeding,” Ahsoka murmured, mostly to herself. Bo-Katan didn’t seem to care one way or another, even under Ahsoka’s concerned watch. “This discoloration doesn’t look good.”

“Well patch me up, Master Jedi, and get off my fucking back about it.”

Her voice was clipped with fury and Ahsoka bumped Bo-Katan under her chin with a bent finger, bringing her angry green eyes back around. “Beskar is not a magical shield,” Ahsoka told her, almost angry herself now. “It’s armor just like any other, you should know that better than any of us. Yes, it deflected most of the damage, but you still took some bad hits.”

“Then I guess it’s lucky the actual Jedi showed up when he did,” she grumbled, turning her face away from Ahsoka’s touch with a deep scowl.

Ahsoka studied her, hearing the scorn and disdain in those few words. Bo-Katan and Koska had told her vaguely what transpired aboard the cruiser with their fellow Mandalorian and his crew, about the child she had already met, but she still wasn’t very clear on all the details and likely wouldn't be for some time yet. 

A story for later, she supposed. 

Not pushing any further, Ahsoka nodded briskly. “Yes, it is very lucky. Now be quiet and let me work.”

Koska handed her a few more strips of bacta and Ahsoka opened their packaging. She reached out to press two fingers into a tender wound on Bo-Katan’s side. She hissed and held herself very still, tense under Ahsoka’s touch and obviously fighting not to jerk away. The beskar had certainly saved her life, Ahsoka couldn’t argue with that. But the damage she had sustained in place of death was still very severe. 

There was no blood on her skin, though there was a great deal pooled beneath it, spreading into a deep purple bruise that covered most of her midsection. Ahsoka rubbed bacta over it and then laid her hand flat against Bo-Katan’s skin, feeling the wound for herself with a small push of the Force. She’d been right.

“You’re bleeding into your stomach,” Ahsoka said matter-of-factly. “And into your liver. Lie back, Bo, let me heal some of this before it gets worse.”

Bo-Katan opened her mouth to protest, but she gave in at the no-nonsense expression Ahsoka fixed in place when Bo-Katan looked at her indignantly. Biting out an incensed sigh, Bo-Katan silently swung her feet up onto the thin cot that served as Ahsoka’s bed and lied down on her back to stare miserably up at the riveted ceiling.

It was obvious she was in pain, and Ahsoka’s anger washed away as Bo-Katan became almost docile beside her, trying not to move now as she continued to stubbornly ignore her injuries. Ahsoka sat on the side of the cot and slid her hand over Bo-Katan’s burning abdomen, keeping her touch light and gentle as she felt out where the worst damage was. 

Bo-Katan flinched.

“I won’t hurt you, you know,” Ahsoka told her kindly, needlessly. “Just a bit longer.”

Ahsoka ran her hand soothingly over Bo-Katan’s stomach, back and forth, lulling her friend into a tired complacence she wouldn’t otherwise find outside of such blatant exhaustion. But then, not wanting to waste any more time, she closed her eyes and pulled the Force into her chest. It came easily, a warmth that filled her with power, with peace. She directed it through her arm, through her hand, to find its place in Bo-Katan’s battered abdomen. 

Bo-Katan sighed again at the sensation, more from relief now as her pain faded and Ahsoka knitted her insides back together. 

It only took a moment for the bleeding to cease and her wounds to heal. 

“There,” Ahsoka said softly, hand still warm on Bo-Katan’s stomach to feel the slow rise and fall as she breathed. “All done. How do you feel?”

“Better,” Bo-Katan whispered, and this time Ahsoka accepted her answer as sincere. 

She rubbed a bit more bacta over the remaining bruises and covered them all with gauze to keep the paste from smearing off. The worst had passed. Now all Bo-Katan needed was to rest for as long as Ahsoka could force her to. An hour at most, she guessed, before Bo-Katan got too restless and needed to move again.

Ahsoka turned to look at Koska, still hovering protectively in the open doorway as she watched over them. “I have some decent ration bars in the cargo bay,” Ahsoka told her with a kind smile. “And real chocolate, too. Go help yourself and bring some back for us when you’re done.”

Koska returned her smile with a worn one of her own and ambled off down the narrow corridor.

Once they were alone, Ahsoka reached out with her other hand to press it to Bo-Katan’s cheek. Bo-Katan gazed up at her, eyes tired but still fiercely sharp.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Absolutely not,” Bo-Katan said, immediately shutting down the conversation before it could begin. But she didn’t push either of Ahsoka’s hands away, instead turning her face more fully into the touch. “Just sit with me while I wallow in my failure.”

Ahsoka indulged her with a small chuckle, knowing Bo-Katan was mostly joking - even if there was a slight ring of truth to her doleful words. She shifted a little, lowering herself to lie down on the thin strip of mattress still left. Bo-Katan scooted over enough to give her space, staying on her back so Ahsoka could curl against her side, head on Bo-Katan’s chest. 

Bo-Katan adjusted her arm so it was wrapped up around Ahsoka’s back, under her lek and firm against her tunic. She pressed her face to the top of Ahsoka’s head, and Ahsoka could feel the tickle of her eyelashes as she closed her eyes. 

“I know you were worried about me,” Bo-Katan murmured. “But are we just not going to discuss how you were in a few scrapes of your own not too long ago?”

“Shut up,” Ahsoka grumbled, though a part of her was heavy under the candor Bo-Katan spoke with. She hated how dangerous their lives had become. It wasn’t fair, and she felt childish even thinking that way. It was no use to wish for things they couldn't have.

Bo-Katan pressed a light kiss to the montral closest to her. “You don’t hold a monopoly on that fear, you know. I worry about you all the time.” 

“That doesn’t make me feel much better,” Ahsoka said. She felt around for the blanket crushed under them and tugged it free, covering them both. “Maybe we should take a break from saving the galaxy for a while.”

That earned her a small laugh, and Ahsoka grinned, tucking her face down against Bo-Katan’s warm skin. Koska would be returning any minute, and she really couldn’t bring herself to care if they were caught like this. Bo-Katan seemed content to stay as she was, as well. 

“I was so close, Ahsoka,” she said after a brief stretch of silence. She sounded despondent, desperately unhappy, and Ahsoka pressed a hand to her sternum in the hopes of conveying whatever additional comfort she could. 

“I know, Bo. I’m so sorry.”

“All of this could have been over and I failed. _Again_.”

“You didn’t fail,” Ahsoka corrected her gently, wanting to see her face but not ready to move out of her warm embrace where she was so comfortable. “You just - met a slight hiccup that you’ll overcome with ease.”

Bo-Katan scoffed, though she did not continue pressing the issue. Her arm around Ahsoka’s back tightened, holding her fast, and Ahsoka went willingly. She tucked one of her legs over Bo-Katan’s, wanting to remain as close as possible. Neither spoke, but nothing needed to be said for Ahsoka to feel the firm flicker of hope beating through Bo-Katan’s soul. It beat through her own, too. 

Right then in that moment - hope, however frail, was all that mattered.

Ahsoka shifted enough to prop herself up on an elbow, still pressed to Bo-Katan’s side but able now to look down at her face from above. Bo-Katan gazed up at her, eyes soft, and Ahsoka reached out to run her fingers over the side of her face. Tracing her scar, her freckles, the sharp slant of her nose. 

The moment was quiet, almost sweet, and Ahsoka leaned down to tenderly kiss her lips. Bo-Katan sighed against her mouth, running a calloused hand over Ahsoka’s back lek. The kiss deepened, and Ahsoka dropped down against Bo-Katan’s chest to cradle her face.

But Ahsoka pulled away after only a few seconds, wanting to look at her again, to take her in while she had the chance. Bo-Katan’s face had some color back, and she no longer seemed to be in pain. Now she was just tired, exuding exhaustion and fierce disappointment. Ahsoka rubbed her thumbs over the dark smudges under Bo-Katan’s eyes, then over her cheekbones. 

_I love you_ , she wished to say, though she knew Bo-Katan saw it in her eyes, in her touch. She smiled and leaned down to kiss her again, and again, and again.

_I love you, I adore you, stay with me._

Ahsoka flopped back to Bo-Katan’s side and nuzzled her face under her chin. Bo-Katan wrapped her arms around Ahsoka’s back as she had before, holding her tightly and not complaining about the weight of Ahsoka on her chest. Nothing more had been said, but then - nothing needed to be. 

Bo-Katan’s embrace - her whole body - was warm, and Ahsoka never felt more comfortable than she did in those arms, even after all their years together. 

She never wanted to leave.

One day soon, she never would.


End file.
